Recently, Kyle Larson claimed to be a better overall driver than Max Verstappen, but what does the Formula 1 champion think? There’s no doubt that Verstappen has dominated in his own series over the past three years. But is the NASCAR driver better overall?
This debate is difficult. At least it is difficult to compare the two drivers. In open wheel cars, karting, etc. there is almost no doubt that Max Verstappen has the upper hand. But we have seen Kyle Larson get into an IndyCar and qualify 5th for the Indy 500.
I have no doubt that Verstappen would quickly get into stock car or dirt racing if he wanted to. Based on what we’ve seen from Larson, I don’t think it would take him that long to get up to speed and be a winning driver in F1 if he was on the right team.
Verstappen has already been asked about Larson’s comments, but responded again this week. The American has no doubt that he is more versatile than Verstappen. The Dutch driver, however, does not want to comment on this.
“That’s fine,” said Verstappen about Larson’s comments, about Luke Smith of The athlete. “Everyone thinks in their own way, right?”
Frankly, we will probably never see a direct comparison between these two drivers. The best we can hope for is a meeting in the same category at the 24 Hours of Daytona or perhaps at Le Mans.
But even then, it’s not a one-on-one race with multiple drivers per car, so we’ll never know.
Kyle Larson keeps doing Kyle Larson stuff
Although his results on the NASCAR circuit have not been outstanding lately, Kyle Larson is still doing what he does best – racing where he can compete. Larson recently won the Knoxville Nationals in a Sprint Car for the second year in a row and has led every lap of the feature race for the past two years.
While many unfamiliar with the dirt world will find a reason to discredit the discipline, it’s not an easy path. Larson isn’t racing against any guys, but against real, professional racers who specialize in dirt sprint car racing. They make just as much money, if not more, than many NASCAR drivers.
In America, there is a wide range of racing disciplines: sports cars, stock cars, dirt late models, sprint cars, karts and more. In Europe, the focus is almost exclusively on kart and formula racing.
So is Max Verstappen a worse or better driver than Kyle Larson? Who knows. We know they are both at the top of their class and are among the fastest drivers to ever race a car. We should appreciate them both while we can.
